In the splendor of Belo Horizonte

Hey!

Well, here I am again! Once again I've had another period in which I just didn't get to writing on this blog - things have been busy and not always very butter-smooth, but I really will try to write much more often here than I've done recently. A promise I've made many times, haha, but don't always follow up on.

And a year since my Big Brazilian adventure, there is still more to write about it - this is still more or less my Brazilian blog after all, so I will continue until I'm out of words hahaha (out of words? Hopefully that's never going to happen). And this time I will write about Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, where I stayed in Brazil.

I've written a tiny bit about BH (as they call it for short) before, not long after I've come back from Brazil. I've been there twice: once with the other trainees from Juiz de Fora (all guys!), and once with Bryley, in June and July respectively. It's funny because the first time I was in such a male company: I went with three other guys, and we stayed in BH with a guy (Joao from AIESEC BH, who so kindly took us all in... though he only knew Kevin, I think). That's so not like me, either... hahaha. But the second time I went with a female friend, and we stayed at a hostel, and did girly stuff like going shopping at a market.. but I'm getting ahead of myself. Anyhow, very different, but cool in both cases.

Since I've written a bit about my first stay in BH already, this time I'd like to write about my second trip there. BH was the first place Bryley and I went to on our twelve-day trip around, and we left the day after the final football game between Holland and Spain (the great weekend in JF I've described before, full of birthday and football parties). We only ended up having 1.5 days in BH though, as we soon embarked on the trip to Ouro Preto, a small colonial town two hours from there, and then back down south to the coast to meet my friend Fernanda for our stay in Cabo Frio and Buzios. After that we hit Rio again, as well as Niteroi. All in twelve days... busy bees, right? So now I'll devote the next few entries to this trip, before getting to what will probably be my last entry on JF itself (for the moment), as I know I've promised a while ago.. (Luckily, I've already done Bahia hahaha).

Belo Horizonte, as I said, is the capital of Minas Gerais and the biggest city, I guess about 3 million in all? It's easy to notice that it's a metropolis just by the avenues, which are really wide, with loads of traffic. But they are beautiful, too - with lots of trees around, many of which were blooming when I was there (either the first or second time.. or possibly both, maybe the trees took turns for me ;)). In BH we stayed at a nice hostel in a central area of the city, and actually when we searched, I don't think we even found that many hostels. BH isn't really very touristy, either, even though it's a very beautiful city, and definitely has enough to see and do.

At the Praca da Liberdade in the heart of Belo Horizonte.. anyone else is reminded of LA? ;)


Well, I don't want to sound like a tourist guide though.. the night we arrived we didn't get up to too much other than going out for some food and drinks with some people from the hostel in the area around. And the next morning we had a lovely breakfast out on the terrace in the sun :) As we pretty much just had that one day to explore the city, we got going to see some of the more famous sights, such Praca de Savassi, Praca de Liberdade, where we took lots of photos, and the Mercado Central, the central market where they sell pretty much everything, from food to jewellery to flower baskets (and also lots of things made out straw and wicker..). Being in the company of only men, I didn't actually make it to Mercado Central last time, haha. And it was so funny because though it was around 28 degrees during the day, most Brazilians around were wearing long sleeves and some even light jackets and such, while Bryley and me were dressed for summer. Ok, it was actually during a Brazilian winter, but it certainly didn't feel like one! So we got many stares from the locals who probably thought we were two crazy gringas to be walking around like that in the winter. Tank tops, shorts and a pair of the same All Stars (yes, we bought the same ones). See, in our European winter, that would be crazy, but in Brazil it was pretty normal.


Yes, they really sell everything at the Mercado Central!

Of course, at the Mercado Central, we got caught up in a jewellery store, and I think we must have bought quite a few things there. It was also quite a good place for gift shopping.. and Bryley got me a pair of earrings with a Brazilian flag that I still wear quite a bit :)

After browsing through the market, with its foods, arts and crafts, we had a late lunch on our way back. We stopped real quick by our hostel and then rushed off to see the sunset at Mirante, near the Parque das Mangabeiras, a famous viewing point in the city, up on the hill, nearby a very rich and classy area that a friend of mine calls Beverly, and with good reason. The houses along the road on the way to Mirante are incredible. And they get the view, too!

I remember we had quite a ride on the bus on our way there. It was this small thing that rambled up and down the steep BH hills, at quite an impressive speed. Even Bryley, who's taken long bus journeys in India, was slightly freaked out by the bus trip, I think more than me. Sure, there was a slight chance you might fly out of the seat on the way, but luckily neither one of us did, and we managed to get to the endpoint unscathed. Unfortunately though, the bus didn't actually get us all the way to Mirante, but stopped at a little square, still a 5-10 min drive from there. So we had to catch a taxi and actually only managed to see the sunset through the back seat of the car as it was rushing up the hill.. by the time we got to Mirante, the sun had just set and we missed all that sunlit glow across the city's towering modern buildings. Well, I myself have seen the sun slowly setting over BH before as I've already been to Mirante during my first visit, but I guess Bryley was slightly dissappointed.

But not to worry, we still had a good time, having our coconut drinks and watching the natural light fade away after the sun and the little twinkly golden lights spring up around the buildings of the city. They call Belo Horizonte that name for a reason for it means 'beautiful horizon', and it really is. And as the last of the light fades and the sky turns dark, the city is a shining mass of gold.

The golden horizon of Belo Horizonte at night time


At Mirante, we also ran into some of the guys from the hostel that we already met the night before. We didn't stay with them too long though, as we headed out to meet a friend of our friend Gabriella who lives in Belo Horizonte and gladly agreed to meet us in the city. So we went together to a really cute, colourful bar decorated all around with artsy-craftsy items, with even a small corner where you could buy some of those.

At the bar, we had a great time getting to know Barbara, Gabi's friend, who's also spent a year in Holland herself years before, when she was still in high-school. But as this was not yet enough for us for the night, we met up with her friend William (whom she lovingly calls Lilly...) who then drove us to another sight-seeing spot above on a hill where the view of the city at night was just... amazing. Although Bryley's camera has great night functions and has captured part of the splendor (a little alike to the photo above), looking over that modern city spreading out in all directions at night time can't quite be compared to a photo.. now it's just in my memory.

Together with Barbara at the supercute bar in BH

Barbara and William also took us to this supposedly famous 'bar on a corner' in BH, where even on a Tuesday night the typically Brazilian scene of plastic chairs, tables and beer holders (with the small cups) was full of people enjoying the above mentioned beer. So did we together with our new friends :) And I swear I remember as we came and went there were quite a few male stares in our direction. Lol!

Well, the next day around noon we went off in the direction of Ouro Preto, a small but famous city two hours from BH. And Ouro Preto will be my next stop here, and it will be soon!

Thanks for reading!

Beijo